When it comes to why the NBA decided to globally retire the number of Hall of Fame Boston Celtics big man Bill Russell after his passing this past July, it was not just his unmatched achievements on the basketball court.
A pivotal figure of the U.S. civil rights movement of the 1960s who kept up his humanitarian efforts up to his death, Russell touched the lives of millions in ways too profound to easily grace the page in textual form.
To celebrate his life and legacy, a panel of such people that includes NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Los Angeles Lakers legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jerry West, Celtics icon Paul Pierce, fellow Hoops Hall member Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson and many others put together a video for TNT.
Watch the clip embedded below to see it in full, and to reflect on the sort of man the world still sorely needs today who will never be forgotten.
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